3 Reasons Why Your Customers Aren’t Buying
When I started my business, I focused on online marketing.
At the time, I had bought into the false hope that I could avoid having sales conversations and that by putting together a ‘simple’ funnel, all I needed to do was put out a great product and the customers would come flying.
You may guess how that story went. I was quickly disillusioned by my discovery that having strangers buy from me was anything but ‘simple’.
What the online gurus often forget to tell you is that even the best product or service will go to waste if you don’t understand how to inspire your customers to purchase it.
Switching Off
I switched my focus to offline and, like many coaches, I started to offer free consultations. This is a great and inexpensive way to help a potential client learn more about your work.
However, without understanding buyer psychology, you may end up giving hours of free value with nothing to show for it in your bank account. I know this is definitely how I felt after 60 hour-long consultations that didn’t result in a. single. sale. Good grief.
This is when I started to invest in sales training. I had spent so much time investing in my abilities as a coach and I knew my methods worked. I had many testimonials from my beta programs and had been on some top media outlets already talking about my techniques.
Why didn’t I have a waiting list of hungry buyers?
Maybe you can relate?
Why Potential Customers Aren’t Buying
So let me demystify the ‘NO’. There are 3 reasons why your leads are not buying your product or service.
1. They don’t trust you.
If a stranger came up to you and said: “Hey, I have this awesome product, want to buy it?!” — the chances of you saying yes are pretty slim.
Yet, I see a common rookie mistake of cold calling or emailing to get a sale. Sure, you might get lucky occasionally but it isn’t a technique I’d bet my chips on!
Ideally, if someone hasn’t been referred by another trusted source, you want to build trust by offering free content such as a webinar, short training, or an article before someone gets on the phone with you or asking for a sale.
But it doesn’t stop there — you want to build rapport and trust from the moment you start your conversation. Doing this is easy: just be yourself. Be genuine and actually care about the person.
If you are only in it for the sale, your business will be short lived. People will sense this and you’ll lose customers. People buy from those they trust.
2. They don’t see the value.
Your biggest objective when talking to a customer is demonstrating the value of what you have to offer.
But it is important to distinguish that your job is to show them the value in accordance with what is important to them.
A big mistake entrepreneurs make is they talk about the benefits of their product from their own perspective.
A large part of your job in a sales conversation is to understand what really matters to your potential client and show them how your product will bring them to their desired results.
It is important to clarify here that value does not equate to money. When someone really sees the value, they will find a way to get the money to invest in your product.
3. Fear.
They don’t believe it will work for them or they are afraid they just aren’t ready.
Let’s assume you did a great job of exploring what is important to your potential client — what their challenges are and the solutions they seek. You are confident you can help them and have shared your product or service with them.
You’ve created great rapport with them and have gotten strong lean in — meaning, they have shared that they see the value of working with you. You’ve already assessed their willingness to invest (this is important to explore before sharing the price).
But when it comes to signing on the dotted line, they back pedal. There might be new reasons why ‘now is not the time’ or ‘they can’t afford it.’.
Remember …
when someone REALLY wants to make something happen, they can and will. They will find the resourcefulness.
So when I see someone all of a sudden change their mind or back out when they have been a ‘yes’ up until then, this is a clear sign of FEAR. Generally, this is the moment they are stepping into the unknown and the brain doesn’t like it one bit.
Often when I explore further, it is a fear that the process or product won’t work for them. When it comes to coaching, some people may be afraid that they won’t fulfill on their end of the bargain and follow through.
I’ve met many a potential client at this point and sometimes I can coach people through their fears to have the life they want. Others just won’t be ready. And in these cases, it really wouldn’t have mattered what you said or did.
Not What You Think
You will notice that none of the reasons I mention here are what many business owners THINK the issue is: cost.
A lot of the time people will undervalue themselves with discounted pricing, thinking it will attract more clients but most often it just attracts more of the wrong clients.
It is easy to blame a lack of money or time as a reason to not purchase, but please believe me that not having enough money or time is the exception, not the RULE.
Most of the time it is one of these top 3 reasons I’ve shared in this post.
So what might be missing in your sales conversations? Where do you need to up level to remove objections? Explore some of these three reasons first and you’ll find yourself attracting more YESes.
